Orton vs. Big Show Rumor, Lesnar's WWE SummerSlam Status, MVP Wants Stable

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe. 

Why Orton vs. Big Show Is Happening on Raw

On Monday's episode of Raw, it was announced that Randy Orton and Big Show will face off next week on Raw in an unsanctioned match.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Joshua Gagnon), WWE's decision to do Orton vs. Big Show on Raw rather than at Sunday's Extreme Rules pay-per-view came down to ratings.

On the heels of Raw setting an all-time low with 1.561 million viewers last week, Meltzer noted that WWE is hoping to draw viewers in next week by advertising Orton vs. Big Show ahead of time.

Orton and Big Show are two well-known veterans and future Hall of Famers, but they have faced each other many times over the years and it is fair to say that most fans aren't necessarily clamoring to watch them again.

With that said, Orton is doing some of the best heel work of his career, and his unsanctioned match against Christian a few weeks ago was a great segment that resulted in him punting Christian after getting some help from Ric Flair.

Recently, WWE has dropped some subtle hints that Orton is planning to turn on Flair in the near future, and the possibility of The Viper taking out The Nature Boy with a punt could be something that piques the interest of the WWE Universe.

Orton has reverted back to his old Legend Killer gimmick to some degree, and both Flair and Big Show would be major additions to the long list of legends he has taken out recently.

Once Orton does that, the door will be open for him to move further up the card and perhaps even challenge Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam.

Lesnar's Reported Status for SummerSlam

For the first time since 2011, Brock Lesnar reportedly won't be part of the SummerSlam pay-per-view this year.

According to Meltzer (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Robert Gunier), Lesnar is not scheduled for next month's SummerSlam, and WWE reportedly put McIntyre over Lesnar in such a decisive manner at WrestleMania 36 due to the fact that Lesnar wasn't scheduled to return for an extended period of time.

Lesnar and McIntyre closed out WrestleMania 36 in a short-yet-impactful match. Both Superstars hit their finishers multiple times, but McIntyre kicked out of the F-5 and then laid out The Beast Incarnate with a barrage of Claymore Kicks to score the pinfall and win the WWE title for the first time.

WWE has been running shows without fans since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, and there is no doubt that Lesnar is a hotter commodity when fans are present due to the reactions he elicits.

Even so, there could be value in bringing Lesnar back before fans are allowed to start attending shows again, especially since Raw and SmackDown have seen their ratings dip recently.

The return of Lesnar would undoubtedly increase interest, but every indication is that WWE is set to move ahead toward SummerSlam without one of its biggest stars.

Provided Lesnar doesn't come back to challenge McIntyre, Orton vs. McIntyre for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam is the likeliest main event.

McIntyre is set to defend the WWE title against Dolph Ziggler at Extreme Rules, but he is widely expected to retain. Once that happens, WWE needs to produce a big-time challenger who can be a legitimate threat to McIntyre.

Lesnar fits the bill, but if he isn't on the table, then Orton stands out as the next best option.

MVP Talks Desire to Build a Stable

MVP has been making moves toward building a stable on Raw in recent weeks, and while Bobby Lashley is still his only client as of now, that may not be the case for much longer.

In an interview with Alex McCarthy of TalkSport, MVP made it clear that developing a stable is very much on his agenda: "Absolutely. It's something I've been discussing and let's see how things go ... let's just say there's method to my madness. I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised if I can take this ... just watch me work. I'll leave it at that—watch me work."

MVP is back to being an active competitor and will challenge Apollo Crews for the United States Championship at Extreme Rules, but his best work has been in a managerial role to Lashley.

Lashley and MVP are collectively known as The Hurt Business, however, MVP made attempts to recruit MVP previously, and over the past couple of weeks, he has tried to create tension between Cedric Alexander and Ricochet in order to bring Alexander into the group.

Both Alexander and Ricochet would be fine additions to the stable since they would both benefit from MVP doing the talking for them, and the same could be said for Crews.

Managers have been a rarity in WWE over the past several years, but MVP is showing why good ones bring so much value to the table.

If MVP is giving the opportunity to work with more supremely talented Superstars who need a mouthpiece and a direction, then the sky will be the limit for them in WWE.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).